Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection Essay

Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection - Essay Example Integrity, honesty, and ethics are important in any coaching and mentoring process. Upholding these virtues help to create confidence, and trust between the mentors and the mentee and this promotes mutual relationships that allow the process to be successful. It allows the mentors to express their weakness as well as strengths without any coercion and this enables the mentoring process to fair on well. Many of the participants further expressed the need for the mentor to be of high integrity to help boost on the mentorship relationship. Many of the teachers indicated that passion was very crucial in the process of mentorship. Passion enables mentors to be committed in the entire process of mentoring and therefore, inculcates the same virtue to the mentee that will often associate this with the already developed qualities. However, a group of teachers was the idea that passion should be sparingly expressed while other seemed to think that it was imperative that the passion is totally expressed. To ensure effective mentoring, the passions of the mentors or coaches is salient and therefore, it is important that this is illustrated in the mentoring process in order to trigger positive change in behavior and stimulate or ensure full engagement and improvement in achievement.There was a conflicting opinion on the question on whether the mentor or coach is supposed to learn from the mentoring process. Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor.... Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor or a coach should learn from outside sources before mentoring others. This is a way to ensure that the learners are confident in the process. The mentor should also be well informed on what to mentor to ensure that the process is successful. The mentee expects the mentor to teach new things and therefore, the mentor needs to be abreast with facts. On the other hand, other teachers were of the contrary opinion and argued that, the open process of mentoring was the best approach because it allowed the mentor to learn from the process. This is because, there are different circumstances and situations and therefore, such situations help the mentor to gain more skills and knowledge. Furthermore, they contend that, research materials on mentorship was only a guide that mentors use and therefore they are just mere guidelines to direct the mentor on the best practices during mentorship. For development of a ppropriate mentorship skills, it is appropriate for understanding of the mentee and the environment in which the process of mentoring is taking place. Furthermore, the mentor should show commitment on any assigned role that many arise from the process. This facilitated acquisition of same characteristics in the mentored parties and promoted effectiveness of the mentoring and coaching process. A mentor is required to focus on problem solving and empowering other people by assigning duties. They were of the opinion that transformation needs to be adopted to ensure that skills are transferred appropriately. However, to achieve this, understanding of both reformation and transformational processes is

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Human Resource Management - Essay Example The company has a total of 37 aircraft, and more than 9000 employees. Annually, Virgin Atlantic serves 4.5M passengers to major cities globally. The company has grown rapidly. Now serves 31 destinations worldwide, and has a made its mark in pioneering many innovative services packages and has gone ahead to set new guidelines in its industry. The company has continued expanding with the same vigour it began. Although the company has a massive growth streak, Virgin Atlantic is considered customer oriented, with more emphasis on their money value and has offered uniqueness in service delivery and high quality service. The enterprise faces an aggressive competitor in the airline business, British Airways. Virgin Atlantic is one of the most successful business venture taken up by the vast Virgin Group of companies. This report seeks to address in detail, the aspects of some of the concepts and human resources strategies which Virgin Atlantic airways has implemented to achieve such success in employee satisfaction and subsequently in their business field. They seem to have perfected all the five models of Human Resource. These include teamwork, organization culture, performance management, learning, development, and leadership. This report however focuses on how two practises have help improve their employee and system as well as critically analyzing Virgin Atlantic on the these bases of the theories. Virgin Atlantic is passionate about exploration, taking risks, challenging conventions and looking for solutions and that made it the company it is presently. That is how it has developed its perfect brand. An innovator established the brand and made it such a perfect setting to developed ones career. Virgin Atlantic has taken the creativity and innovation seriously and it is considered a place where great service is of concern. The company establishes a comprehensive framework for the career of the employees from the very beginning.

Mary Whiton Calkins Essay Example for Free

Mary Whiton Calkins Essay In the early days of psychology there were few female psychologists who had any type of impact on the field of psychology. There was sex discrimination and it was a common belief that women were inferior to men. Mary Whiton Calkins was able to beat the odds and have a long lasting legacy in psychology. She is considered one of the pioneers in psychology and is credited with a major theoretical contribution of self-psychology, which was centered on the idea that all consciousness is personal. Calkins overcame discrimination from both students and scholars and succeeded in inventing a procedure that was historic; paired associate learning, which has become the standard method in cognitive research (Goodwin, 2008). Mary Whiton Calkins was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1863. She was the oldest of five children; their parents encouraged their education, especially the study of languages and cultures (Furumoto, 1980). Calkins did graduate from high school in Newton Massachusetts and began Smith College in 1882 as a sophomore. Unfortunately, in 1883, her sisters illness and subsequent death caused her to decide to study Greek at home the following year. However Calkins returned to Smith College in 1884 as a senior, and graduated with a concentration in classics and philosophy in 1885. In 1887, after graduating from Smith College, she was hired to teach Greek at Wellesley College. She had been teaching for three years when she was offered she was offered a position teaching in the new area of psychology (Goodwin, 2008). In 1890 Wellesley finally offered Calkins the position, with the condition that she would study psychology for a year. There were very few psychology programs available at that time, and even fewer that would accept women applicants. This made it difficult for her to have the one year of study needed to teach the subject of psychology. During the following year Calkins also worked unofficially at the psychology laboratory at Clark University with Edmund Sanford. He also assisted Calkins in the creation of a psychology lab for Wellesley College, equipped with state of the art equipment. That psychology lab officially opened in 1891, the same year that Calkins began teaching psychology at Wellesley (Goodwin, 2008). After being invited to sit in on some of the lectures at Harvard, Calkins formally requested that she be allowed to sit in on these lectures. She decided to try to take classes at the Harvard Annex taught by Josiah Royce, a Harvard professor, because the Annex was not an official part of Harvard University. Royce, however, pushed her to try to attend regular Harvard classes because not all of his classes were available through the Annex. Charles Eliot, the president of Harvard, believed strongly that the two sexes should be educated separately. But it was not until the pressure applied to him from both James and Royce was combined with a petition from Calkins father and a letter from the president of Wellesley College that Eliot finally agreed in 1892. Calkins would be allowed to attend James and Royces seminars on psychology, but it was officially stated that she would not be a student of the University entitled to registration. (Furumoto, 1980). Calkins felt like she needed to do more graduate work. She continued teaching while simultaneously studying with J. Munsterberg until 1894 when she studied full-time for a year. At that time Munsterberg petitioned Harvard to admit Calkins as a Ph. D. candidate, but was refused. The Harvard psychology department held an informal examination of Calkins, which she passed in 1895. The same year, while at Harvard, Calkins presented her theses, where she completed a series of experimental studies on association. She developed a procedure known as paired-associate learning (Goodwin, 2008). Her subjects first studied stimulus-response pairs comprised of sequentially presented color patches and numbers, and then they tried to recall the umber responses when shown the color stimuli. Her results showed that recall was enhanced by each of the four factors: frequency, vividness, recency, and primacy. These four conditions could strengthen associations, and found that frequency was the most important. (Goodwin, 2008). Calkins then returned to Wellesley College where she continued to teach until her retirement in 1927. From about 1900, her publications became less research-oriented as she developed her major theoretical contribution to psychology, self-psychology. Calkins maintained that psychology could be the study of mental life, but that the central fact of psychology must be that all consciousness contains an element of the self (Goodwin, 2008). In 1900, Calkins published her first article on a system of psychology of the self, a topic which became her primary focus. Over the next thirty years, Calkins continued to present, develop, and defend her theory of self-psychology, gradually moving more towards philosophy and away from the psychological trend towards behaviorism. There is evidence that her primary interest was always philosophy rather than psychology. She was teaching psychology for almost a decade before another faculty member trained in psychology joined the philosophy department. (Furumoto, 1980). In 1905, Calkins became the first woman elected president of the American Psychological Association. As her interests shifted to philosophy, she became the first woman elected president of the other APA, the American Philosophical Association in 1918. All of her work in philosophy as well as psychology came to center around the importance of self. She used it as a way to reconcile competing theoretical schools of thought including structuralism and functionalism (Furumoto, 1980). She believed that self-psychology was a method of resolving disputes between structuralism, which analyzes consciousness in to its basic elements, and functionalism, which focuses on how consciousness serves to adapt the individual to the environment (Goodwin, 2008). Among her major contributions to psychology are the invention of the paired associate’s technique and her work in self based psychology. Calkins believed that the conscious self was the primary focus of psychology. Despite Mary Whiton Calkins contributions, Harvard maintains its refusal to grant the degree she earned and her influence on psychology is often overlooked by both scholars and students. She was passionate about her beliefs, even when Harvard was going to award her a PhD. from Radcliffe College; she refused to accept the degree because she did not agree with the â€Å"injustice of unequal treatment of the sexes based on the implicit assumption that there are inherent differences in their mentalities† (Furumoto, 1980). Mary Whiton Calkins was a pioneer in psychology. She was responsible for the creation of a method of memorization called the paired associate technique, founder of one of the early psychological laboratories in the United States, and creator of a system of self-psychology (Furumoto, 1980). Conclusion Mary Whiton Calkins was a prolific writer in both psychology and philosophy, publishing four books and over a hundred papers divided among the fields. In addition to being the first woman president of the American Psychological Association, Calkins also served as president of the American Philosophical Association in 1918. The topics Mary Whiton Calkins studied in psychology covered a wide range including dream research, animal consciousness, and memorization. In 1892 she presented a report on a dream study that she had worked on with Sanford at the first meeting of the APA. Thirteen years later she was elected president of that same organization. In 1895 she returned to Wellesley as an associate professor, and in 1898 she became a full professor, a position she held until she retired in 1927 (Furumoto, 1980). On February 26, 1930, Calkins died of inoperable cancer, one year after retiring from Wellesley as a Research Professor and turning over that department to Eleanor Gamble. Her teaching career spanned forty two years. She died with two honorary degrees, a doctor of letters from Columbia University and a doctor of laws from Smith College. However, she never received the degree that she worked for at Harvard. In 1927 a group of Harvard alumni petitioned the president of Harvard requesting that the university grant Calkins her Ph. D. , but they were denied (Furumoto, 1980).

Changes in Family Structure in Contemporary Britain

Changes in Family Structure in Contemporary Britain Describe the changes in the family structure since the nineteenth century with reference to appropriate research and the apparent decline of the extended family. Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of families in contemporary Britain. In order to answer this question it is necessary to address the assumptions regarding the structure of the family pre and post industrialisation, focussing upon the research of historians and social scientists such as Laslett, Anderson, Young and Willmott. Sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) put forth the view that prior to industrialisation families were extended and lived a rural life with democratic gender relations. After industrialisation, society consisted of nuclear families who lived urbanised lives with women financially depended upon men. He describes post-industrial family units as ‘isolated’ as they are not â€Å"part of a wider system of kinship relationships† (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg335). He states that the decline of the extended family was due to industrialisation, as the requirements of skilled labour demanded geographical mobility (Abercrombie et al, 1995). Parsons’ theorizing has since been proven incorrect. The historian Peter Laslett actually found that between 1564 and 1821, only 10 percent of households contained members beyond their immediate family. He states that when couples married it was only a matter of a few years before both their parents died, which implies that there simply not enough members of a family to create an extended unit. He claims â€Å"There is no sign of the large, extended co-residential family group giving way to the small, nuclear, conjugal, household of modern industrial society† (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg338). Michael Anderson’s research also discredits the assumption of the rise of modern nuclear families during industrialisation and the death of the extended family. Anderson conducted an 1851 census of Preston and found that â€Å"23 percent of households contained kin other than the nuclear family† (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg339). He stated that the families worked as a support network with Grandparents looking after siblings whilst both parents worked. It also meant support during periods of ill health or unemployment and it produced a lower share of rent paid. It was what Haralmbos et al describe as a â€Å"mutual aid organisation† (1995, pg339). In the 1950’s, Young and Willmott’s study of Bethnal Green found that two out of three couples lived within three miles of their parents. They also discovered that close ties existed between female members of the family such as mother and daughter, with a â€Å"constant exchange of services such as washing, shopping and babysitting, between female relatives† (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg341). Young and Willmott described many families as â€Å"a combination of families who to some degree form one domestic unit† (Quoted in Haralambos at al, 1995, pg341). During Willmott and Young’s surveys and historical research, they produced three stages of the family based on their findings. The first stage is Pre-industrial, where the family acted as a ‘unit of production’ with everyone working together, in agriculture for example. This unit is similar to that of Parsons’ pre-industrial family, however it does not appear to be extended. This family structure is still seen in modern society, such as within rural farming areas. The second stage is the Early-industrial family which was extended, and acted as a support network similar to the families studied by Anderson. This is also inclusive of Willmott and Young’s Bethnal Green families in the 1950’s. The third stage is the Symmetrical Family, which is nuclear, home centred, with a shared responsibility concerning housework Willmott went on to carry out research in 1980’s London. He found a nuclear family, which is reliant upon kin for support but i s still an independent family unit. This greatly contradicts Parsons’ view of an isolated nuclear family for modern society (Abercrombie et al, 1995, pg304). Robert and Rhona Rapoport however, state their research illustrates how the family structure is still evolving. Twenty percent of families in 1978 were married parents with one main breadwinner. The number of single-parent households has increased from 2.5 percent in 1961 to 10.1 percent in 1992 (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg348). Many factors could contribute to the cause of such a radical change in family structure. Legislation is one factor, as since the 1960’s it is easier to get a divorce, have an abortion, homosexuality is legal and the contraceptive pill is widely available. Women are much more financially independent, which means financial security is not the only reason for marriage. The fact that people are leaving it later to get married and cohabiting for longer periods suggests a higher expectation of marriage. Burgoyne and Clark found examples of couples in this situation in their study of Sheffield. They state that these individuals often view themselves as ‘ pioneers of an alternative lifestyle’ (Quoted in Haralambos at al, 1995, pg347). Returning to the rise of single parenthood, the General Household Survey in 1990 found that their was not only a rise in single mothers who had divorced, but a rise from 16 percent to 34 percent of mothers who had never married (Haralambos at al, 1995, pg348). There are numerous arguments as to why this is the case, Haralmbos et al suggest many by Politicians such as John Selwyn Gummer, Peter Lilley and John Redwood who all stated a concern regarding the welfare state and the possibility of it encouraging single parent families (1995, pg349). To conclude, changes in family structure since the nineteenth century have been subtle. The assumptions that prior to the Industrial Revolution families were large and lived together as one egalitarian unit has been discredited. Even though it is safe to say that modern society consists of mainly nuclear families and single parent families, these units depend on their extended kin network for support, which live in close proximity. Bibliography: Abercrombie, N. and Alan Warde et al. 1995. Contemporary British Society: A New Introduction to Sociology. Second Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Haralambos, M. and Martin Holborn et al, 1995. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. Third Edition. London: Collins Educational. McRae, S. 1999. Changing Britain Families and Households. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Strategy vs Structure in Strategic Management

Strategy vs Structure in Strategic Management Strategic analysis: Strategy versus Structure for International Competitiveness Introduction The strategy structure relationship, that was previously considered reciprocal, is now recognized as being considerably more complex, and there is some agreement that structure can and does have a profound impact on strategy through its direct effect on the strategic decision making process (Bourgeois Astley, 1979; Burgelman, 1983; Fredrickson, 1986). In understanding the role of strategy and structure in international business, one must understand that what has essentially changed is the context within which business operations take place. The well developed and complex associations between structure and strategy in classical studies of firms are also central to research in international business, but the nature of business has changed, and so have the relationships. As such, issues have arisen over the best way for international firms, operating in global marketplaces, to best align their strategy and structure to serve numerous distinct markets, whilst maintaining a global identi ty. This paper looks at the development of business strategy and structure over time, highlighting how the relationships have changed, the implications for organisational behaviour, and how firms can alter their behaviour to best gain competitive advantage in international markets. International Strategies Business strategy refers to how firms compete in an industry or market (Varadarajan and Clark 1994; Walker and Ruekert 1987). The two historically dominant frameworks of business strategy are the Miles and Snow (1978) model, which focuses on intended rate of product-market change, and the Porter (1980) model, which focuses on customers and competitors. Miles and Snow (1978) developed a comprehensive framework that addresses the alternative ways that organisations define and approach their product-market domains and construct structures and processes to achieve competitive advantage in those domains. Miles and Snow identify four archetypes of how firms address these issues: â€Å"prospectors† continuously attempt to locate and exploit new product and market opportunities, â€Å"defenders† attempt to seal off a portion of the total market to create a stable set of products and customers, â€Å"analyzers† occupy an intermediate position by cautiously following prosp ectors into new product-market domains while protecting a stable set of products and customers, and â€Å"reactors† do not have a consistent response to the entrepreneurial problem. In contrast, Porter (1980) proposes that business strategy should be viewed as a product of how the firm creates customer value compared with its competitors, and how it defines its scope of market coverage. Walker and Ruekert (1987) observed that though each of these strategy typologies has inherent strengths, i.e., Porters external focus and Miles and Snows internal focus, each is also limited. To address this, Walker and Ruekert proposed a hybrid model that synthesizes the two foci in a typology that consists of prospectors, low-cost defenders, and differentiated defenders. However, although Walker and Ruekert’s article has been frequently cited in the marketing and management literature, the distinctions between low-cost defenders and differentiated defenders have only recently been supported in empirical analysis (Slater and Olson, 2001). Following on from these initial developments, over the last few years researchers have quite successfully addressed and explicated the various forms of international strategy, and these forms are generally well accepted in the literature. There is now considerable agreement among international business scholars that most firms embarking upon or undertaking international business operations are cognizant of the twin pressures of global integration and local responsiveness. To this end, the integration-responsiveness framework suggested by Prahalad and Doz (1987) has provided a valuable theoretical tool to better understand international strategic behaviours of firms. More recently, we have seen many successful applications of globally integrated strategies (Parente, 2003; Parente Kotabe, 2003). According to Yip (2003), global companies have developed more sophisticated and flexible versions of international strategies and organisational processes, which successfully embraced globaliz ation. Organisational Structures Organisational structure refers to an organisation’s internal pattern of relationships (Finley, 2000). Structure has been characterized by a number of dimensions and illustrated by using a variety of types, like functional or divisional (Fredrickson 1986), however, there are three dimensions of structure: centralization, formalization, and complexity, which have received more attention than any others (Fry, 1982; Fry Slocum, 1984). Each of these dimensions appears to have great implications for strategy and strategic decision making, and are dominant characteristics of the well known structural types (Fredrickson, 1986). Centralization refers to the degree to which the right to make decisions and evaluate activities is concentrated (Fry Slocum, 1984; Hall, 1977). A high level of centralization is the most obvious way to control and coordinate organisation decision making, but places significant cognitive demands on those managers who retain authority (Fredrickson, 1986). Min tzberg (1979) has discussed this issue by suggesting that an individual does not have the cognitive capacity or information that is needed to understand all the decisions that face a complex organisation. The degree of formalization specifies the extent to which an organisation uses rules and procedures to prescribe behaviour (Hage Aiken, 1969; Hall, 1977). Therefore, formalization has significant consequences for organisational members because it specifies how, where, and by whom tasks are to be performed (Fredrickson, 1986). A high level of formalization has the benefit of eliminating role ambiguity, but it also limits members’ decision making discretion. Complexity refers to the condition of being composed of many, usually, though not necessarily, interrelated parts. Hall (1977) suggests that there are three sources of complexity: horizontal and vertical differentiation, and spatial dispersion. Therefore, an organisation that simultaneously has numerous levels, broad spans of control, and multiple geographic locations would be considered as highly complex (Fredrickson, 1986). The Interaction Between Strategy and Structure Whilst strategy and structure have been studied in isolation for a great many years, and are now relatively well understood, what is less understood is the international role of organisational structure and its relationship with international strategy (Finley, 2000). International strategies are the forms and types of actions firms follow to fulfil their long term business objectives. Organisations involved in international business activities usually have two major forces impinging on them. One is the need to standardise products on a global basis, and the other is to respond to local country or local market demands. International strategies may be characterized in different ways, and the integration-responsiveness framework developed by Prahalad and Doz (1987) has extended the conceptualization of industry pressures to incorporate generic strategic responses. The framework suggests that organisations develop their strategies and structures based on the emphasis they place on either one or both forces. At the most basic level, organisational structures are established to coordinate work that has been divided into smaller tasks. Mintzberg (1981, p. 104) noted, â€Å"How that coordination is achievedby whom and with whatdictates what the organisation will look like.† Walker and Ruekert (1987) further hypothesized that firms that follow different generic business strategies adopt different structural designs. Vorhies and Morgan (2003) studied the relationships among marketing organisation structure, business strategy, and performance in the trucking industry. Both of these studies demonstrated that different marketing organisation characteristics are more or less appropriate for different business strategies. The forms of structures typically defined by formalization, centralization, and specialization, which as Walker and Ruekert (1987 p. 27) noted â€Å"seem particularly important in shaping an organisation’s or departments performance†, are also applicable in d ifferent ways to different strategies and geographic factors. For example, in studying the development of America’s dominant industrial organisations, Chandler (1962) observed that major increases in unit volume, geographic dispersion, and vertical and horizontal integration were eventually followed by changes in structural form. Several studies following Chandler’s work confirmed an association between these two variables, in that structure generally followed strategy (Fouraker Stopford, 1968; Rumelt, 1974). In spite of the wide spread acceptance of the structure follows strategy relationship, there is a significant body of literature that suggests that structure has a significant and major effect on strategy (Fredrickson, 1986). Bower, for example, characterized structure broadly as the context within which decisions are made, and observed that â€Å"structure may motivate or impede strategic activity† (1970, p. 67). This view is also supported by other researchers who contend that structure constrains, or in another set of circumstances, enables, strategic choice (Bobbitt Ford, 1980; Duncan, 1979; Hedberg, Nystrom Starbuck, 1976). To understand why it is logical for strategic action to be affected by structure, one must understand the relationship between decision making and structure (Fredrickson, 1986). March and Simon (1958) addressed this critical aspect of the relationship by suggesting that an organisation’s structure imposes boundaries of rationality that accommodate members’ cognitive limitations. By delimiting responsibilities and communication channels, structure allows organisations to achieve organisationally rational outcomes despite their cognitive limitations (Simon, 1976). Structure also allows management to control the decision making environment and facilitate the processing of information (Fredrickson, 1986). The structure-strategy relationship is well explained by Bower when he states that â€Å"when management chooses a particular organisational form, it is providing not only a framework for current operations but also the channels along which strategic information will flow † (1970, p. 287). As a result, the relationships between business strategy and organisational structure become massively complex when considered in the international context, and thus require organisations to strategically examine their fundamental behaviours in order to best align their strategy and structure, without becoming lost in the complexity. Strategic Organisational Behaviour Organisational behaviour refers to organisational members’ work-related activities (Ouchi 1977; Robbins 2002) and, according to Snell (1992), management attempts to influence organisational behaviour through the use of control systems. Control is any process that helps align employees actions with the firm’s interests (Snell 1992; Tannenbaum 1968). Control theory (Snell 1992) identifies three major categories of control mechanisms: behavioural control (e.g., establishing and monitoring of sets of actions), output control (e.g., goal attainment measures), and input control (e.g., training). When applied within an organisational context, control theory posits that management attempts to direct employee behaviour to enhance the probability of desired outcomes. As Snell notes (p. 292), â€Å"Advocates of the behavioural perspective posit that different strategies require different behaviours.† Snell also notes that this view of the link between strategy and behaviour is useful because it provides a clear explanation of why behaviour should be linked to strategy and because it posits a testable set of behaviours. As a result, strategic behaviours have the potential to create superior performance through enhancing the execution of business strategy and identifying the relevant organisational structure (Slater and Narver 1995). There are four behaviours which are all claimed to offer potential competitive advantage to firms. These are customer-oriented behaviours (Deshpandà ©, Farley, and Webster 1993), competitor-oriented behaviours (Armstrong and Collopy 1996), innovation-oriented behaviours (Hurley and Hult 1998), and internal/cost-oriented behaviours (Porter 1980). It is important to understand that these strategic behaviours are not mutually exclusive and that it is common for firms to engage in multiple sets of behaviours simultaneously (Slater and Narver 1995). Furthermore, different combinations of emphases will likely prove more or less beneficial for firms that adopt different business strategies. Customer-Oriented Behaviours Firms with a strong customer orientation pursue competitive advantage by placing the highest priority on the creation and maintenance of customer value. As such, these firms engage in the organisation wide development of and responsiveness to information about the expressed and unexpressed needs of both current and potential customers (Deshpandà ©, Farley, and Webster 1993). Because of the constantly refined market-sensing and customer-relating capabilities of the customer-oriented firm, it should develop strategies and a structure to anticipate customer need evolution and to respond through the development of new customer value-focused capabilities and the addition of valuable products and services (Day 1994). Competitor-Oriented Behaviours A different perspective on competitive advantage is simply to beat the competition (Day 1994). This orientation places a priority on the in-depth assessment of a set of targeted competitors, focusing on targeted competitors goals, strategies, offerings, resources, and capabilities (Porter 1980) and on the organisation wide dissemination of the information generated from this assessment. The result is that managers develop competitor-oriented objectives rather than economic or customer-oriented objectives (Armstrong and Collopy 1996). The behavioural goal of the firm is to match, if not exceed, competitors strengths, both in strategy and structure. Innovation-Oriented Behaviours Another perspective is that firms build and renew competitive advantage through radical or discontinuous innovations. An innovation orientation indicates that the firm not only is open to new ideas but also proactively pursues these ideas (Hurley and Hult 1998) in both its technical and administrative domains An innovation orientation encourages risk taking and enhances the likelihood of developing radically new products. March (1991) argues that firms must be aware of the possibility that an innovation orientation may not allow for the follow-through that is necessary to reap the benefits of earlier innovations fully, unless their strategy and structure are aligned with both the generation and utilisation of innovation. Internal/Cost-Oriented Behaviours Porter (1980) argues that there are two basic sources of competitive advantage. The first is the differentiation advantage that a firm derives from the customer-, competitor-, or innovation-oriented behaviours. The second is the cost advantage that a firm derives from internal orientation and structure, with internally oriented firms pursuing efficiency in all parts of their value chain (Porter 1985). They attempt to reduce costs in primary activities, such as logistics, operations, and sales and marketing, and also attempt to reduce costs in support activities, such as procurement, research and development, and administrative functions. These firms pursue operational excellence, through their strategy and structure, that they can translate into higher sales through lower prices or higher margins. Whereas experimentation is the hallmark of firms with an innovation orientation, exploitation is the hallmark of internally oriented firms (March 1991). Conclusion International business has produced some incredibly competitive and complicated markets, with numerous potential problems for organisations, but also numerous opportunities for firms that can best adapt to their marketplace. However, such is the level of complexity in these markets, that firms who try to engineer specific, rigid strategies and structures will likely find themselves left behind by the latest shift in the market or technology. As a result, firms competing in international markets would be best advised to focus on the organisational behaviour, or behaviours, that best match their capabilities, and let these behaviours drive their strategy and structure to provide the most sustainable competitive advantage possible. Unfortunately, there is currently a paucity of available academic evidence on the most relevant behaviours for firms to best secure competitive advantage under the myriad market conditions, and this should be a key area for future research, as it may soon bec ome a strategic issue of significant importance. Equally, organisational behaviour as a field of study is vastly complex, with ongoing debates between theorists around organistic versus mechanistic structures, the role of teams, and the best styles of leadership needed in an organisation. In particular, organisational behaviour tends to suggest that organistic structures will be required in uncertain, rapidly changing markets, however mechanistic structures will be required in markets where the pace of technological developments is slower (Burns and Stalker, 1961). Thus, more research is needed into the consequences of an organisation in a relatively fast moving market making strategic organisational behaviour choices which would be better facilitated by a more hierarchical, mechanistic structure. Similar research would be recommended into the roles of leaders, and teams within organisations, in implementing and driving these behaviours forward. However, regardless of the need for further research, it is clear that firms can no longer merely define a strategy, focus strongly on it, and expect their strategic focus to guarantee success. Likewise, in the international business world, firms should no longer focus on having a well defined structure, regardless of whether it is organistic or mechanistic. Instead, a key recommendation of the strategic organisational behaviour approach is that firms should concentrate on best aligning themselves to the most appropriate behaviour for their industry. In manufacturing, this is likely to be more internal, or cost oriented, in technology it will tend to be primarily innovation oriented and in professional services a strong customer, or client, orientation would be best. However, it is vital that firms do not neglect the other behaviours: those that are not their primary focus, as these remain important, and can help maintain a balance approach to strategy and structure, offering sustained competitive advantage in international markets. References Armstrong, J. S. and Collopy, F. (1996) Competitor Orientation: Effects of Objectives and Information on Managerial Decisions and Profitability. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 33, May Issue, p. 188. Bobbitt, H. R. and Ford, J.D. (1980) Decision maker choice as a determinant of organisation structure. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 5, p. 13. Bourgeois, L. J. and Astley, W. G. (1979) A strategic model of organisational conduct and performance. International Studies of Management and Organisation, Vol. 6, Issue 3, p. 40. Bower, J. L. (1970) Managing the resource allocation process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Burgelman, R. A. (1983) A model of the interaction of strategic behaviour, corporate con-text, and the concept of strategy. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 8: p. 61. Burns, T. and Stalker, G (1961) The Management of Innovation. London: Tavi-stock. Chandler, A. D. (1962) Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the American industrial enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 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An Argument for Abortion :: essays research papers

Pro-Abortion over Pro-life An unborn child doesn’t have a soul   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A sixteen year old walks down a nameless back alley on the mainland, one of only a million others, and she carries with her an unborn child of 4 months. She had tried to hide it but the signs were finally showing, â€Å"Who was the father† were the cries and pleas of those whom she loved. She was raped a year ago by her ex-boyfriend and now carries their unwanted child. Should she be forced to carry and care for the child she hadn’t planned for? Should she be forced to love a child who will for her every waking moment remind her of the night her rights were stripped from her? Should she not have the choice to safely abort her unwanted child instead of resorting to a back alley where she may endanger her own life? Sadly this kind of a story was a reality for thousands of teen’s worldwide, but not only teens suffer from this fate. Women of all kinds have to suffer the choices and consequences that they must make, but should they not have a choic e to abort their unwanted children instead of resorting to the back alley scenes of coat hangers and illegitimate drugs?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many will argue firstly that it is against religion and faith to kill a child, to destroy a soul, especially one so pure as an unborn baby’s. See thou that’s just the thing. It’s an UNborn baby a.k.a. not a human a.k.a. it doesn’t HAVE a soul! So you wouldn’t be killing anything, just a fetus that has in it potential to become a human being, potential to become a living being. But that’s all it is, potential. It’s like trying to argue that liposuction should be illegal because your killing fat that has potential to grow parasites and bacteria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another topic that I feel needs to be discussed is unwanted pregnancies. Not in the sense where oops the condom slipped or ooh I thought pulling out worked. Because honestly those people should in my opinion be held responsible for their actions. What I am talking about is rapes and mothers who would die if they were to conceive a child because of birth complications. Should they be outlawed from safe abortions? And if not then how would you write a law that would support only them? I’m sure you will agree that there are certain people who should be eligible candidates for abortions but there is no solid way to filter those telling the truth from those who are just fibbing so staying legal for now seems to be the only thing to do right? An Argument for Abortion :: essays research papers Pro-Abortion over Pro-life An unborn child doesn’t have a soul   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A sixteen year old walks down a nameless back alley on the mainland, one of only a million others, and she carries with her an unborn child of 4 months. She had tried to hide it but the signs were finally showing, â€Å"Who was the father† were the cries and pleas of those whom she loved. She was raped a year ago by her ex-boyfriend and now carries their unwanted child. Should she be forced to carry and care for the child she hadn’t planned for? Should she be forced to love a child who will for her every waking moment remind her of the night her rights were stripped from her? Should she not have the choice to safely abort her unwanted child instead of resorting to a back alley where she may endanger her own life? Sadly this kind of a story was a reality for thousands of teen’s worldwide, but not only teens suffer from this fate. Women of all kinds have to suffer the choices and consequences that they must make, but should they not have a choic e to abort their unwanted children instead of resorting to the back alley scenes of coat hangers and illegitimate drugs?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many will argue firstly that it is against religion and faith to kill a child, to destroy a soul, especially one so pure as an unborn baby’s. See thou that’s just the thing. It’s an UNborn baby a.k.a. not a human a.k.a. it doesn’t HAVE a soul! So you wouldn’t be killing anything, just a fetus that has in it potential to become a human being, potential to become a living being. But that’s all it is, potential. It’s like trying to argue that liposuction should be illegal because your killing fat that has potential to grow parasites and bacteria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another topic that I feel needs to be discussed is unwanted pregnancies. Not in the sense where oops the condom slipped or ooh I thought pulling out worked. Because honestly those people should in my opinion be held responsible for their actions. What I am talking about is rapes and mothers who would die if they were to conceive a child because of birth complications. Should they be outlawed from safe abortions? And if not then how would you write a law that would support only them? I’m sure you will agree that there are certain people who should be eligible candidates for abortions but there is no solid way to filter those telling the truth from those who are just fibbing so staying legal for now seems to be the only thing to do right?

India, Nigeria and Internal Medicine :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

India, Nigeria and Internal Medicine    My desire to become a physician dates way back into my childhood. My parents migrated to Nigeria in the late 1960's when my father, an academician, decided to help educate children there. This was a country, which then had just gained independence. A person's goals are set by the role models he or she seeks to emulate. My childhood role model is Dr. Raj a physician. I learned from Dr. Raj, that real success and satisfaction is achieved by putting one's beliefs and thoughts into action. Dr. Raj provided quality care to the poor, especially children, alongside his richer clients. This left a lasting impression on me. Later on, when I realized that lots of people actually lacked basic medical care, I always wanted to reach out and help make a difference in the lives of others. Medicine, with its emphasis on service would therefore be the most satisfying career for me.    My interest in internal medicine developed during my training at medical school in Nigeria. Internal medicine offers a wide variety of cases, which makes it as diverse as it is exciting, requiring a problem solving attitude and constant vigilance. Having graduated from a reputed medical school in a developing country, I had the opportunity to get hands-on experience in patient care, right from start. In fact, my medical school had a unique final year program where the focus was essentially on preventive medicine and health education. During this community based health program, we were required to monitor and provide complete health care to people in neighboring villages. While working on our year book during the same year, we were able to raise money from the proceeds of the sale and various other activities (conducting symposium, charity fair, etc.) so as to provide free dug supplies to the underprivileged. All this made me realize the tangible difference one could make in the lives of others.    Upon graduation, I spent two and a half years, working in private hospital settings in India and Nigeria. This has made me a more experienced and mature physician but has left me yearning for more knowledge. For the past three years I have been in the United States and during this time, I have successfully qualified the ECFMG certification examination, USMLE steps I, II & III. I have also worked as a research associate at Stanford University on role of HIF-1( in retinopathy of maturity.